diff --git a/osxphotos/export_db.py b/osxphotos/export_db.py
index d7bb4166..a3ac6f20 100644
--- a/osxphotos/export_db.py
+++ b/osxphotos/export_db.py
@@ -649,6 +649,14 @@ class ExportDB(ExportDB_ABC):
             else:
                 self.was_upgraded = ()
         self.version = OSXPHOTOS_EXPORTDB_VERSION
+
+        # turn on performance optimizations
+        c = conn.cursor()
+        c.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL;")
+        c.execute("PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL;")
+        c.execute("PRAGMA cache_size=-100000;")
+        c.execute("PRAGMA temp_store=MEMORY;")
+
         return conn
 
     def _get_db_connection(self, dbfile):